Ep. 287 - Do Advanced Lifters Need More Volume?

The Erics are back, and this time, they work through a mental model of how training volume, or rather, the training dose changes over time. With a rank novice, a single set to failure done once per week will typically produce continued adaptation, and they won’t plateau for 1-2 years! However, if you take an advanced strength athlete or bodybuilder, a single set to failure done once per week seems to not only be insufficient for measurable progress to occur, but is even lower than doses that result in small losses of muscle mass. So, it seems the that the minimum effective dose of training changes as one reaches higher levels of training status. But does this mean volume needs increase with training status? Not exactly, but that depends on how you define “needs.” There is an interaction of these concepts with the minimum detectable change we can notice, our goals, the timeline we wish to achieve them in, and also the slowing rate of progress that naturally occurs as one gets closer to their potential. Can the Erics reconcile these complexities into a defensible mental model of how the needed training dose changes over time? Tune in to find out!

00:00 Omar and Helms walked… so Trexler and Helms could run

02:13 Let’s talk about the topic

06:44 Training age vs status

15:04 Minimalistic level programs as a novice and an intermediate

Steele 2024 Long-Term Time-Course of Strength Adaptation to Minimal Dose Resistance Training Through Retrospective Longitudinal Growth Modeling https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35591809/

Travis 2020 Preparing for a National Weightlifting Championship: A Case Series https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31373973/

Androulakis-Korakakis 2021 The Minimum Effective Training Dose Required for 1RM Strength in Powerlifters 2021 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34527944/

27:51 Eric’s personal example and scaling back once you are advanced

34:10 Talking about long muscle training again (to alter the stimulus) 

Maeo 2021 Greater Hamstrings Muscle Hypertrophy but Similar Damage Protection after Training at Long versus Short Muscle Lengths https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34527944/

Kassiano 2023 Greater Gastrocnemius Muscle Hypertrophy After Partial Range of Motion Training Performed at Long Muscle Lengths https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37015016/

45:43 Perceived plateaus, the dose, and risks

57:58 Exploring different training dose concepts 

Ogasawara 2011 Effects of periodic and continued resistance training on muscle CSA and strength in previously untrained men https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21771261/ 

Ogasawara 2012 Comparison of muscle hypertrophy following 6-month of continuous and periodic strength training https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23053130/

1:10:13 Closing out and Trexler’s ideas for future Iron Culture episodes